Vile And Despicable No Room For Shame For West Ham Fan
Sometimes it's time to say enough is enough, even if it's to one of your augmented family, or as some would say "time to call a spade a spade", now this phrase, deliberately chosen, is extremely contentious as in most people's minds it is racist and yet was a turn of phrase used commonly in the past. Bad language has been part and parcel of football, particularly towards your own players and their performances along with that of the referee, virtually ever since fans paid to watch football, in the heat of the moment people get carried away and can express themselves in a way that they would never dare in normal circumstances, this is part of the allure of football. A stage, a place to play, group therapy, anger therapy, joy therapy even but above all escapism, but the difference between escapism and reality can become blurred.
As an example, most people young and old, particularly middle aged men and women have had 'murderous thoughts' at some time in their lives, possibly for a nano second or even longer, but the point is that 99.9999999999999999% or around that do not become murderers.
At the London Stadium during the intervals there is a nicely crafted advert/statement about respect and 'swearing and abusive language' voiced over by fans and players young and old, but listening to it fans wait for 'West 'am fan' Ray Winstone to say "we're west 'am fans and we respect each other" which is a worthy, great and generally applicable statement, but actually most people laugh at 'the punch line' and add "we're West Ham fans and we swear responsibly" as an 'homage to his Bet 365 adverts and persona that he magnificently 'morphs' between being a Betway match day mouth piece in true thespian fashion, after all he is a great actor!
The unearth shattering point is that people do swear at football matches and have done since we at the Org remember, for some of us a that is a very long time, in the past there were some dreadful racist and anti religious chants that were common place. Thankfully the most abhorrent have all but disappeared and rightly so, but as an example of 'accidental impropriety', during the match against West Bromwich Albion the referee to all intents and purposes seemed to give every single decision to the away team and after one particular sin Ed Jnr and I were particularly perplexed and I with my ex muso voice belted out that the referee was a ***t, not beginning with a t, completely forgetting that our fellow season ticket holder had brought along his partner and their two year old girl!
So people in glass house shouldn't throw stones!
Nearing the end of the match Ed Jnr and the old man noticed a lot of action near the side line despite being a thousand miles away, Ed Jnr thought that Psycho had been 'restrained' for being disruptive but now it transpires it was Baggies player Jake Livermore who had just been substituted who was being 'restrained', initially by stewards and then by his own team's staff as he attempted to confront a Hammers fan.
'West Ham United have identified the supporter who was confronted by West Bromwich Albion midfielder Jake Livermore during Tuesday's Premier League match the fan is reported to have shouted to Livermore, and an investigation is under way to establish whether he directed abuse about Livermore's baby son, who died in 2014.'
Perhaps this 'fan' was boozed up, or perhaps they had endured a wretched and miserable Christmas and New Year, that is the most 'charitable' way of looking at what is a heinous crime that has as yet been 'allegedly' committed. The sad thing is, and it is a damning indictment about our increasingly disparate culture, that within 'the pack' people still feel able to commit disgusting acts 'in the heat of the moment' and expect not to be sanctioned. Anyone who has lost a child or been close to someone who has will tell you it is the most devastating and painful experience ever imaginable and that words alone cannot truly express the feeling.
It is widely known that Livermoore, the former Tottenham midfielder, had tested positive for cocaine after Hull's Premier League win over Crystal Palace during April 2015. Livermore escaped suspension after the FA ruled the death of his new born son Jake Junior in May 2014 was an overwhelming mitigating factor. An FA statement at the time read: "Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing, Hull City FC midfielder, Jake Livermore, has admitted breaching Regulation 3 of The FA's Anti-Doping Regulations after testing positive for a prohibited substance. "However, due to the specific and unique nature of the circumstances surrounding the case, he will face no suspension." Livermore was ordered to undertake a course of rehabilitation and education, and was also the subject of target testing for a period of 12 months.
Although not proved guilty yet, the supporter who shouted at Livermore must have incensed a 'normally placid' lad astronomically in order that he would launch himself in to the crowd, and by all means known to us at this time it transpires the 'abuse' directed at Livermore was indeed referencing the death of his son, even worse was a further reference to the player being a 'coke head' of a dead kid! If proved these disgusting jibes have no place at a football ground, they have no place any where!
Sometimes a man has to admit his transgressions no matter how painful that be, it is only to be hoped that the person in question, who was unbelievably not detained for further investigation, gets in touch with the club in order to somehow begin to apologise for their actions, actions that every right minded Hammers fan will never condone. As a club West Ham can only promise to act swiftly to ensure such disgusting behaviour is never tolerated, after all, we are West Ham and we swear responsibly. - Ed
